Sea patterns in “Sea Reflection”: a creativity contest by the Primorsky Aquarium
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The Primorsky Aquarium has summed up the results of the regional creativity contest called “Sea Reflection”. This year it included three categories: essay, video art and drawing. Some one hundred entries were submitted for the contest by participants from Vladivostok, Arsenyev, Artyom, Bolshoy Kamen, Dalnegorsk, Lesozavodsk, Ussuriysk and other towns and villages in Primorye.
“The “Sea Reflection” contest is held for the fourth year in a row and commemorates World Oceans Day,” said Tatyana Belozerskaya, Senior Specialist at the Education Department. “Just like the event to which it is dedicated, the contest seeks to raise awareness about environmental issues and the World Ocean problems as well as to remind the public that the ocean needs our protection and each of us can contribute to its splendor and health. That is why we choose such themes for the contest that help participants to focus on these problems and to describe them from the perspective of a child. It is great when children and their teachers or parents first find information about a chosen theme, absorb it and only then start creating. This approach can be felt in works: they show a far deeper understanding of themes by children.”
A visit to the Primorsky Aquarium is one of the opportunities to better learn about ocean dwellers. For this very reason, the contest themes include the following: “The Primorsky Aquarium, My Family and I” and “A Day at the Primorsky Aquarium”. The other themes – “I Live by the Sea”, “My Encounters with Marine Inhabitants”, “I Protect the Sea” – also allow contestants to share their personal experience of knowing the ocean.
The drawing category, with 83 entries received, was traditionally the most popular one, and the majority of its participants were elementary schoolchildren. All eligible works were judged by a professional jury. Due to current circumstances the judging was performed remotely: the drawings were scanned and sent to experts for further evaluation.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to hold a traditional award ceremony this year; certificates for winners and participants will be distributed via e-mail. The contest winners will be presented with commemorative prizes when the Primorsky Aquarium reopens to the public.